A planned U.S. delegation to Greenland was cut from a three-day cultural visit to less than 24 hours on the tundra amid possible protests.
Vice President JD Vance says he’s visiting Greenland
Vice President JD Vance announced via social media that he’ll be joining his wife in Greenland to the dismay of Greenland officials.
- Second lady Usha Vance was meant as a “soft power” U.S. emissary to Greenland, experts said.
- The Vance family’s reduced itinerary – to a U.S. military base – helps the Trump administration “save face,” said said Harvey Feigenbaum of George Washington University.
A U.S. delegation’s visit to Greenland this week was supposed to demonstrate President Donald Trump’s resolve to acquire the massive and mineral-rich Arctic territory from Denmark − but the plan may have backfired, with the Republican administration recalibrating amid planned local protests and international criticism.
What started as a trip led by Vice President JD Vance’s wife, Usha Vance, that included a public appearance at a Greenlandic dogsled race this week morphed into both Vances touring a military base out of the public eye.
“There was so much excitement around Usha’s visit to Greenland this Friday that I decided I didn’t want her to have all that fun by herself, and so I’m going to join her,” Vance said in a video announcement Tuesday. Now, a planned three-day excursion has been cut to less than 24 hours on the tundra.
‘One way or another’
Trump has been talking about acquiring Greenland since his first term in office, and ratcheted up claims about its strategic importance for U.S. national security in recent months.
“One way or the other, we’re going to get it,” he told Congress.
Sending a U.S. delegation to the island – including second lady Usha Vance and national security adviser Mike Waltz – was a logical next step in the Greenland campaign, an administration official said. It reinforces Trump’s deep interest in the territory, added a Trump adviser.
“You have some pretty high-level administration officials making that concrete with travel… that’s a really important way they can signal priorities,” said Victoria Coates, who was deputy national security adviser in Trump’s first administration.
Unwelcome mat
The trip stirred strong feelings in Greenland and Denmark, though.
Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede called the visit a “provocation” and “highly aggressive.” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the U.S. was placing “unacceptable pressure” on Greenland and Denmark.
Some Greenlanders planned to protest the Usha Vance visit by turning their backs on the delegation, and a Danish leader said there could’ve been louder protests at a dogsled race Second Lady Usha Vance planned to attend. The delegation arrives at a sensitive time, with Greenland’s political parties planning to form a new coalition government on Friday.
“I think the way the United States is going about this is completely backfiring,” said James Goldgeier, a professor of international relations at American University.
Doggone
Usha Vance canceled plans to attend the race following the outcry. The Trump administration announced Tuesday that the itinerary for the trip had changed.
The second lady originally was scheduled to lead a delegation that included Waltz and Energy Secretary Chris Wright. She planned to attend the Avannaata Qimussersu race, which translates to “The Great Race of the North,” and “visit historical sites.”
Her visit was billed as a cultural mission to engage with Greenlanders and learn about the territory’s people and traditions, a soft power approach that the administration official described as less confrontational.
Usha Vance’s office said in a statement that she wanted to “celebrate Greenlandic culture and unity.”
Greenland leaders said the U.S. delegation wasn’t invited, though, and viewed the trip as a show of force.
Trump disputed that the trip was a provocation, saying “it’s purely friendship.”
But the change to the trip itinerary was described as a “de-escalation” by Denmark’s prime minister.
The Vances now will visit Pituffik Space Base and skip the public activities that had been planned. The trip also was scaled back from three days to one, with the Vances flying in and out on Friday. Denmark’s foreign minister told a Danish broadcaster “we have nothing against” U.S. officials visiting their own military base.
The White House referred questions about the Greenland trip to the vice president’s office.
“The security of Greenland is critical in ensuring the security of the rest of the world, and the Vice President looks forward to learning more about the island,” Vance Press Secretary Taylor Van Kirk said in a statement.
Saving face
Foreign policy observers say it appears the Trump administration changed plans because of the blowback the trip generated.
“I think they had to adjust given the strong negative reaction from the government of Greenland to the initial visit idea,”Goldgeier said.
Why does Trump want Greenland?
Leaders from both Denmark and Greenland stated their disinterest in joining the U.S. after Trump expressed interest in acquiring the island.
Revising the trip helps Trump “save face” and avoid negative publicity said Harvey Feigenbaum, a professor of international affairs at George Washington University.
“The reality is that he has dug himself into a hole… but as they say, the first step is to stop digging,” Feigenbaum said. “At least he’s using a smaller spade now.”
Both Goldgeier and Feigenbaum described the Greenland trip as a power play aimed at increasing pressure. Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., traveled to the territory in January for a private visit.
A formal U.S. delegation ups the stakes, and this one held particular intrigue because local officials were hostile to the effort.
“It is not common that you would have an ally angry at a high-level visit from the United States and having uninvited guests coming, having had the president talking about acquiring your territory,” Goldgeier said.
‘Backing down’
That the Trump administration ended up feeling the pressure itself is not surprising, said Feigenbaum.
“Trump has a history of doing something outlandish, then backing down,” he said.
Sending the vice president on the trip adds another twist, though. The Trump adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it increases the trip’s importance. Vance has been a staunch critic of Europe and has lashed out at Denmark over its approach to Greenland.
Vance said in a video posted on social media Tuesday that leaders in the U.S. and Denmark “ignored Greenland for far too long.”
It’s definitely not being ignored now.